COVID-19: FG To Build 38 Oxygen Plants As Demand For Medical Oxygen Rises

Following the approval of over 16 million dollars by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Federal Government says it will build 38 oxygen plants across the country.

This project is meant to address the surge in demand for oxygen as a result of the daily rise in COVID-19 cases in the country.

In the National Economic Council meeting held on Wednesday, the Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed said that the construction of a new oxygen plant was necessary due to the continuous increase in numbers of COVID-19 patients in need of oxygen.

In a statement, the FG said it had allotted an additional $671,000 for repairs of existing oxygen generation facilities in five hospitals.

According to the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi,_ “a large number of patients who are currently on admission in the isolation centers are largely dependent on oxygen. A patient with a critical case may use about six cylinders of oxygen in 24 hours”_ Abayomi explains.

In the commercial capital Lagos, the epicenter of Nigeria’s outbreak, demand for oxygen at one of its main hospitals had increased fivefold in recent weeks to 350 6-liter cylinders a day according to the state government.